


The Space Between Us

by makkurataichou



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, aka trash collectors in space AU, helmet kisses, planetes au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 14:56:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11648931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makkurataichou/pseuds/makkurataichou
Summary: Drabble. After spending a year apart, Sorey finally graduates from his training course and reunites with Mikleo in space.





	The Space Between Us

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't resist the title pun /)w(\
> 
> ANYWAY I guess this is unintentionally my Day 8 contribution to sormik week!! [Eve](https://twitter.com/mcsquiggles616) and I talked about a really soft space AU, and I immediately thought of Planetes - which is a wonderful show btw and I highly recommend it - so I thought I'd mash the two of them into one! Thanks for giving me the courage to post this pal ;;_;;
> 
> This is just a drabble, but I may consider writing more for this AU in the future! I hope you all enjoy *^*

“Mikleo! Come spin with me!”

Sorey laughed as he let the compressed air from his tank propel him around in zero gravity, making him spin around and around until he couldn’t tell which way was up. Not that it mattered, of course—after all, there was no direction in space. 

When he finally slowed to a stop, he saw Mikleo drifting over to him, a smile barely visible on his face through his helmet. “You’ll get your wires all tangled up if you keep doing that,” he said, his voice crackling slightly over the intercom. “And you’ll get dizzy. We’re on a retrieval mission, you know.”

“I know, I know,” Sorey shook his head and shrugged. “It’s just a small satellite, though. All we have to do is carry it back, right?”

“Right.”

“So I can spin for a little longer, right?”

Sorey heard Mikleo sigh over the intercom—it sounded like a small explosion of static, and he chuckled at the sound. “Fine, but if you end up too dizzy to carry it back, I won’t be able to do it on my own. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Alright, alright,” Sorey relented. Then, he spread his arms out wide in his suit, allowing himself to slow to a stop, now drifting innocuously in deep space. “Just give me a second to appreciate the view.”

And appreciate it he did. Their planet Earth lay far below them, a giant mass of blue and green and every colour in between, surrounded by a massive ring of debris. But even that didn’t stop it from looking more beautiful than all the pictures he’d grown up with as a child, and even the high-quality photographs on the walls of the Technora Corporation offices didn’t do it justice.

He heard the intercom go silent, and turned to Mikleo to see him just as enamoured by the sight. The light within his helmet made his violet eyes glow with a soft, ethereal light. Even in the depths of space, weighed down by a bulky space suit designed for debris collection, Mikleo looked as calm and as graceful as ever.

Sorey propelled himself forward and towards Mikleo, angling his body so he could grab the other boy’s arms and spin him around with the sheer force of their movement. Mikleo let out a shout of surprise before it was engulfed by static yet again, and Sorey spun them around and around, laughing as Mikleo latched onto his body for support.

“H-hey! What do you think you’re doing?!” Mikleo stammered, clinging to Sorey for dear life. “This isn’t safe, Sorey, you’re gonna get us tangled together—”

He froze when Sorey wrapped his arms around him. “I’m just...so happy to be up here!” Sorey laughed, hugging him tightly. “I finally caught up to you!”

“I was just a year ahead, Sorey,” Mikleo huffed. “Still, with your extra training, you deserved to be placed in a fancier department…”

Sorey shook his head. “We made a promise, right? We wanted to help the world...to make a difference.” He let go of Mikleo only to grasp his upper arms, pulling him close again before he drifted away. “And the debris department is the best way to do that...even if no one else at Technora seems to think so.”

He grinned. “Besides, everyone is really nice—I don’t think the other departments are the same.” 

Mikleo gave him a soft smile. “You’re right,” he agreed, bumping his fist against Sorey’s chest. “But you’re still way too excited to be up here. This is still a job, so you need to take it seriously.”

“I know,” Sorey admitted bashfully. “Just...give me another week to get used to it, and I’ll get better, I promise.”

“Good.”

“Oh! And one more thing—”

Before Mikleo could even begin to protest, Sorey brought their helmets together and closed his eyes. Mikleo looked at him through the glass, confused.

“This is new.”

“It’s...the closest thing to a kiss when we’re in space, okay?”

Mikleo grinned. “A kiss? You aren’t doing anything with your mouth.”

“H-hey!” Sorey scrunched his eyes up tighter. “I don’t wanna make a fish face for nothing! Come on, just kiss me back already!”

“It wouldn’t be for nothing,” the silver-haired boy teased. “I’d like to see your fish face, Sorey.”

“...fine.” Sorey puckered his lips for a brief moment before it devolved into a pout at the sound of Mikleo’s laughter over the intercom. “Ugh, I knew you’d laugh! Now I feel like a kid.”

He opened his eyes to meet Mikleo’s mirthful gaze. “You’ve always been a kid, Sorey, ever since we were five,” came the response. “But that’s what I love most about you.”

“And you always keep me in check,” Sorey replied, his pout softening into a warm smile. “Thanks, Mikleo.”

Mikleo looked up at him for a few brief moments before closing his eyes and moving in closer to bump their helmets together again. This time, Sorey encircled him within his arms and held him there, keeping their foreheads pressed together.

“Always.” Mikleo murmured over the intercom, his eyes still closed. “I’ll always be by your side, Sorey. No matter what.”

Sorey smiled and brought up a gloved hand to brush against the glass of Mikleo’s helmet, trying to imagine the feel of his skin underneath his thumb. The year they’d spent apart had been complete agony, but now that they were together again, he could stand to wait just a few more minutes until their mission was complete.

And when Mikleo leaned into his hand, he knew he wasn’t the only one who’d missed this.

* * *

After they’d retrieved the satellite as requested, the two of them made their way back to the Technora Corporation space station, tugging it along behind them as they went. Once they’d received permission to enter through one of the docking bays, they drifted inside and deposited the debris in the middle of the room, waiting for their supervisor’s next instructions.

Once the doors closed behind them and the air in the room was deemed breathable, Mikleo pulled off his helmet with a gasp, shaking his head to let his hair ease out of its disarray. Sorey did the same, placing his helmet on the floor and pulling off his boots and gloves as well.

Then, he turned to Mikleo and cupped his face in his palms, bringing them closer together so he could claim the kiss he’d been waiting for. Mikleo gasped against his mouth before leaning into him, placing a gloved hand on the back of Sorey’s neck to pull him closer, their lips moving in perfect unison. 

Sorey playfully nipped at Mikleo’s bottom lip before pulling away, a dreamy, contented look in his eyes. Kissing Mikleo never failed to knock the breath right out of his lungs.

Mikleo smirked, his lips slightly pink. “Let me guess. You couldn’t wait until decontamination procedures were done to kiss me properly.”

Sorey nodded slowly, a crooked smile making its way across his face. Mikleo just heaved a sigh and took his hand, pulling him towards the locked doors in the back.

“Come on, let’s get cleaned up before you give me weird alien germs.”

“Now who’s acting like a kid?”

“...sh-shut up.” Mikleo didn’t look back as they continued to walk, but he laced their fingers together nonetheless. “You know Lailah is gonna give you a talking to.”

Sorey grimaced. “Right.”

After dragging out a simple retrieval mission  _ and _ ignoring sanitization protocol, he could probably expect to be lectured by Lailah and Rose for a few hours at most. Edna would probably butt in and call him an idiot a few dozen times, and Dezel would just be there, contributing with his presence alone. But in the end, Sorey knew that Lailah would make them all treats, and they’d sit and eat together, sharing stories about their lives on Earth and aboard the station. In the short time he’d spent here, Sorey had grown to see them all as something of a family, and he understood now why Mikleo had been so reluctant to come back to Earth.

It wasn’t quite like home, but with Mikleo by his side and their shared dream in sight, it certainly was the next best thing.


End file.
